


A Fairy Tail Ending

by CactusJam



Category: Fairy Tail
Genre: Feel-good, Fluff, Humor, One Shot
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-07
Updated: 2017-12-07
Packaged: 2019-02-11 15:44:07
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,790
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12938466
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CactusJam/pseuds/CactusJam
Summary: Our most emotionally dense guildies are hit by feelings. Everyone else tries to help.





	A Fairy Tail Ending

It’s all Lucy’s fault, not that anyone is terribly shocked by this. They had known for months now that she would be the one to finally coax a relationship out of Natsu, they had just always expected it to be with her. 

She’s sitting at the bar playing with Plue when Lisanna comes up to her. That is a shock, they’re not rivals – as Juvia would put it – but both of them know the other’s feelings for Natsu so they tend to keep a safe distance. Until now.

“Oh, isn’t he adorable? What’s his name?” Lisanna coos. Lucy should not be as surprised as she is, after all, Lisanna is an animal soul wizard – it’s her business to be interested in all things cute and furry.

“Plue, after-”

“The celebrity, yeah. So he’s a cutie named after a cutie? That’s cool.” 

They get chatting and it isn’t awkward at all. Lucy keeps finding herself smiling, Lisanna has that effect on people. 

“Really? You’ve still not caught up on the gossip? Well, we’ll have to change that. Come on Lisanna.”

“Where are we going?”

“Shopping!”

Three hours, and over a dozen shops later, they stop for chocolate.

“I can’t believe I’ve spent all my rent money – again.” Lucy moans. Lisanna only giggles in response.

“Can’t you take a job? You’re a good mage, I’m sure you’ll make it up in no time.”

“I can’t, Erza and Grey are off on some mission together. Top secret, apparently.”

“Oh, do you think?” Lisanna raises her eyebrows salaciously.

“Pffff. You’ve been spending too much time with your sister. I’m sure Juvia would have let us all know if there was something going on between them. She’s probably just buying him clothes.”

“How about we do a job together then? I helped you spend the money, after all.” And just like that, Fairy Tail’s cutest team is born.

They’re standing together, perusing the board when Natsu storms into the guild. He doesn’t even notice them as he swoops in, grabs a flyer, and thrusts it into Lucy’s face.

“Hey Luce. Do you remember this?”

It says DEFEAT THE VULCANS ON MOUNT HAKOBE. Lucy lights up.

“Oh wow, that was our first job together when I joined Fairy Tail, wasn’t it?”

“I don’t know if you can say we did it together, you spent the whole time hiding in that clock thing.”

“HOROLOGIUM IS A WELL RESPECTED CELESTIAL SPIRIT, NOT SOME RANDOM CLOCK THING.”

“Yeah, yeah. Whatever. While you were hiding in the clock thing I defeated the Vulcan and saved Macao cause I’m just that awesome.”

Lisanna tries to sidle away, they’re obviously having a moment.

“Lisanna! Where are you going? We still need to pick a job to do.”

“It’s okay, you go on that one with Natsu. It must mean a lot to the two of you.”

“Why don’t you come with us? You’ll be better company than the damned stipper.” Natsu offers casually, as if that isn’t the greatest gift he could give anyone, as if he wasn’t an oasis in the magical desert she had been trapped in.

Oh. Were they still speaking? She sprints after them as Natsu pulls Lucy out the door. They make it approximately twenty feet up the mountain before Lucy pulls a key off her belt. Natsu was right, it is a clock thing, and Lucy is hiding.

“I am not hiding, I’m just staying warm. Lucy says angrily.” The clock thing proclaims, seemingly able to read her mind. “And it’s rude to-” It freezes. Every single cog and gear stops whirring and grinding and spinning and locks into place. Inside, you can see Lucy’s jaw moving up and down but no noise is coming out.

Natsu turns around to try and fix it, Lisanna unconsciously reminding him not to throw fireballs at it because boy, had that gone badly when Grey iced his door shut as a joke back when they were kids. There’s a reason there’s not a boy’s dorm anymore.

Of course that’s when the Vulcans show up, a whole velociraptor of the blighters.

Now, Lisanna’s not a bad mage. In fact, before she went to Edolas she was considered very talented for her age, on the fast track to being S-Class for sure. Unfortunately, her skills hadn’t improved massively since then and the only missions she’d done had been in the company of her – understandably – protective big brother.

She manages to take down two (Tiger’s Claws, Viper’s Strike), and slow another (Donkey’s Kick) but then, suddenly, all she can think of is giant rabbits and hatching dragons and the pink-haired boy behind her.

Said pink-haired boy turns around just in time to see a Vulcan lift her off the ground. For what is maybe the first time in his life, he feels sympathy for Mirajane and Elfman. Sure, he loves her too but he hadn’t had to see-

Wait.

He loves her.

The thought smashes him round the head like a frying-pan with a grudge.

Fire erupts. Everywhere. Solid walls of flame encase them, there’s no escape to be seen. I hope that clock thing is fireproof, Lisanna thinks vaguely, because this is a storm and Natsu’s the eye of it. She can only survive when she’s close to him.

She can only survive when she’s close to him.

The thought drifts into place as softly as a falling feather. It doesn’t set the world alight – that’s his job – but it fits. It’s the perfect piece to finish the puzzle.

But right now she’s in the grasp of a Vulcan and that kind of trumps the emotional revelation. She squirms and wriggles as hard as she can but he’s gripping her too tightly to transform.

Is his hair on fire? It is. And his beard. Lisanna can’t help but laugh at the ridiculousness of the situation. Then she stops, because he’s shouting, and she hasn’t heard a speech like this in a very long time.

“When will you beasts learn? You. Can’t. Harm. My. Nakima. You tried before and look what happened. I will keep killing you as many times as I need to for you to realise it. You can’t hurt them. Not her. No-one will ever hurt her again, because I’m not losing her. She makes me strong.”

He doesn’t name a spell but the flames roar up with every word he shouts. It’s not just the mountain anymore, her whole world is ablaze. The Vulcans never really stood a chance.

Lisanna doesn’t know how – or when – it happened, but she’s in Natsu’s arms and he’s glaring at her so intensely she thinks she might be set alight too.

“Natsu, I… You…” She can’t find the words to say what she really means. “That was very kind, what you said out there.” Whatever, she’s a coward. She’d rather face down the Vulcans all over again than stumble through a declaration of love that he’d probably just laugh at.

“It was true.” He shrugs. “I’ll never stop fighting for you.”

“Because I’m Nakima?”

“Because you’re you. It’s always been you. Will you marry me?” Though she will deny it ever day for the rest of her life, Lisanna makes a face roughly akin to that of a donkey’s when asked to solve a differential equation. Although, to her credit, she bounces back rather quickly, and smiles.

“Most people go on a date first.”

Natsu doesn’t even get the chance to plan a date that day, he’s too busy carrying the goddamned clock thing down the mountain, and then listening to Lucy whine because he let Gajeel punch it open and now Aquarius was going to beat her up. Didn’t she know that he had more important things to think about? Like asking almost every woman in Fairy Tail for relationship advice.

He thinks Cana’s a good bet, she’s always off with some guy or another and they – as far as he can remember – always have stupid grins on their faces. Of course the only ex she brings up is the stripper.

“He always used to make ice cubes in my beer, that was really sweet.”

“Gross.” Cana’s not sure if that’s a reaction to the ice or to somebody dating Grey. “Why did you two break up anyway?”

“I got sick of you seeing my boyfriend naked more than I did.” That’s okay then, he doesn’t have a stripping problem. As for the ice, well, if the snowflake could do it then so could he.

“COME ON LISANNA. WE’RE GOING ON A DATE. IT’S GOING TO BE ALL ROMANTIC AND SHIT.” He drags her bodily out of the guild, mid-shift. She’s still wearing an apron.

Despite that, when they end up in front of a cute little teahouse with pink curtains, Lisanna feels hopeful. It’s small, it’s cosy. It’s perfect. She smiles as they’re seated, grins at all the waiters. She positively glows as she orders. 

And then she realises that Natsu hasn’t said a word since they left the guild hall, then she falls to picking at her cake absently.

“What’s wrong? Is the cake not right?” Natsu knows from Erza that that is a very serious crime indeed. “Do you want me to go in there and bust-”

“No! It’s okay, honestly.” Lisanna thinks it’s probably for the best that she doesn’t hear the end of that threat, lest she feel obliged to inform the magic council. “I was just thinking that I never did get the chance to cook for you.”

“Oh yeah. I don’t think I’ve ever even been to your house.”

“Why not? You’re always at Lucy’s.” Oops, she hadn’t meant for that to sound so bitchy.

“Are you kidding me? You live with Mira. She would kill me.”

Lisanna laughs, and all of the tension between them melts away. It’s not long before her tea arrives but by then Natsu is telling stories at full throttle and she barely gets the chance to sip it between giggles.

“Wait, so you’re telling me that Freed drew ruins round the guild and didn’t let anyone out till they kissed someone of the same gender? Why?”

“He was sick of people always asking him when he was gonna come out.”

“Didn’t Levy just undo them?”

“Nah. She kissed Cana, they both thought it was hilarious.”

“And Gajeel didn’t get super jealous?”

“He kissed Jet and Droy and sat smiling to himself because he was better than both of them.”

“Do I even want to know what my siblings did?”

“Elfman grabbed Bickslow straight off the bat, something about real men feeling secure in their sexuality. Mira just walked right out, Erza too.” Lisanna is in no way surprised by any of this, there’s just one person whose reaction is missing.

“And how about you? What did you do?”

Silence. Then blushing. Then some angry growling. And, finally, more silence.

“I was in the bathroom. None of the good people were left.”

“Who was it?!?!?” 

“I kissed the stripper, but then I got to fight Juvia cause she thought I was a love rival so it was all good.” Lisanna laughs so hard that she nearly snorts cake out her nose, or does something equally unladylike for a first date.

“Oh, my tea’s gone cold.”

Natsu grins. It’s feral, and slightly disturbing, like when Erza offers to do you a favour.

He sends out a gentle haze of warmth towards her. People think he’s all about the explosions and the flare, but he can be subtle if he wants to.

Or not.

The teacup explodes everywhere. Lisanna is bathed in both boiling water and tiny shards of china. The situation’s only saving grace is that Natsu picks her up, princess-style, and carries her all the way to Porlyusica, who is unimpressed.

“You are exactly the reason I hate people. Run to your guild and send Mirajane to pick her up in an hour. She, at least, has some sense.”

Natsu’s not sure what she says to Lisanna, but she must do something more than treat her wounds because she won’t look him in the eyes for days. Or Gajeel. Not even little Wendy.

Not that he notices all that much, he’s mostly lying with his head flat on the bar and groaning about how much he hates life. Only when Lisanna’s off shift, of course.

“Juvia heard about the date. Is Lisanna-chan okay?” Natsu mumbles something vague about romance being impossible. “Juvia once had a dream that Grey-sama made an ice rink in her apartment. That would be romantic.”

What was it with that stripper and women? It seemed like every girl in Fairy Tail was all over him. Still, if Grey could do it then-

“Stop that thought right there,” Erza says, lifting him off the bar stool by his scarf. “Unless you plan on actually taking Juvia on that date with you, no.” Juvia looks suitably outraged by the suggestion and scuttles off. “Now, do you remember our lessons?”

Natsus nods meekly. You’re hardly likely to forget something when you’re hit with a ruler every time you get it wrong.

“Good. Read this. Follow the instructions exactly.”

It takes Natsu about a day to read the book, another one to ask himself do women really like this stuff? He hadn’t blushed so hard since Cana gave him the sex talk, and a couple more to actually set it up.

That’s an awful lot of effort for a date that lasts precisely four seconds.

He opens the door to his house. She takes one look. Then another. She screams and runs away as fast as she possibly can.

Natsu knew he shouldn’t have trusted anything with that stripper’s name on it. The next day he wasn’t even resting his face on the bar, he was banging his head against it.

“Did someone put the guild on wheels? I’ve never seen you look so unhappy outside a moving vehicle before.” Mira says to him.

“Lisanna didn’t tell you?” Natsu perks up immeasurably at this prospect.

“Oh she did, whips and chains, really?”

“It was Erza’s idea. She gave me this to read.” He passes the book across the bar to her.

“Hmmm, fifty shades of grey, I’ve been meaning to read this,” Mira muses, studying the offending article. “I think it’s time for a bit of loving advice.” She begins to slap Natsu with the book, each blow emphasising her words. “The next time you want to take dating ideas from literature? Ask Levy.”

That was no good. He wasn’t a vampire. Or a werewolf. He would be alone forever. That’s what all her books said, and no amount of people pointing out that Levy was dating Gajeel, and therefore couldn’t be trusted in matters of taste, would make him feel better.

It was, surprisingly, Gajeel who fixed the problem for him. And Grey. They cornered him one evening when Cana was the only one left drinking.

“Flame brain.”

“We’re sick of you moping around all the time.”

“And what do you suggest snowflake? You have a stalker and he nailed his girlfriend to a tree.”

“At least I’ve nailed her. That’s more than you’ve done ash breath. Anyway, that’s why we brought in reinforcements.” At Grey’s signal Loke strolls out from the shadows. How a star could so effectively hide in the dark, Natsu would never know. Still, he has to admit that the date he planned for them was perfect.

The day of the super date, Natsu is the perfect gentleman. He wears a shirt, he buys flowers, he even waits until the end of Lisanna’s shift to take her out, and then he doesn’t drag her along, instead holding her hand as they stroll through town. They talk about small things as he leads her to a giant burrow, almost human sized.

“This isn’t?” Lisanna gasps.

“It is.” Natsu replies, before pulling her inside. It’s the den she made years ago when Happy first hatched. He hasn’t been here in a long time, it hurt too much to see it when she was first gone, but it brings back good memories now. It makes him think of baby teeth and playing with magic and having a home again.

It feels like the time for honesty.

“Loke planned this date.”

“I know.”

“Will you marry me anyway?”

“Don’t be silly.” Natsu physically recoils at her words. “I promised you that years ago.”

He can’t resist. He pulls her into his arms and kisses her. He finally can.

The announcement of their engagement is met with pretty much the same reaction as any other announcement in Fairy Tail history – a rave.

Sure, it starts off innocently with a few drinks and a lot of cheers, but then Cana arrives and Grey’s shirt comes off. No-one’s quite sure what happens after that. The next morning the whole guild bumbles in cheerfully (apart from Lucy, who is typically baffled by the guild’s permanent resistance to hangovers) for an even more important announcement. The wedding party.

There’s more competition for places than there are for the S-Class trials.

The happy couple are given very little choice in the matter. Erza “offers” to plan the wedding for them, including finding the finest cake in Fiore, and Mira quietly pledges to help her with it, including a promise to protect every baker in Fiore.

They, benevolently, allow them to choose the best man and the maid of honour. Lisanna chooses Mira, and Natsus asks for Gildarts (Cana promises to get hold of him as their wedding present, she hasn’t been on a job for a while) But, other than that, the girls plan everything, on the grounds that they missed out on the last Fairy Tail wedding – Alzack and Bisca are conspicuously left out of the wedding party.

Bridesmaid selection goes smoothly enough: Erza, Juvia, Levy, Lucy and Cana, with Wendy as the flower girl.

The Groomsmen? Not so much. Grey, Gajeel, Loke, Sting and Rogue are all chosen, with Happy as the ring bearer, but Erza barely gets to finish the list before lightning fills the room.

“What do you mean I’m not in the wedding?” Laxus booms. “Half of them aren’t in the guild. Two of them aren’t even human.”

“Who are you calling not human, Sparky?” Gajeel spits back, rising to his full height.

“The flying cat and the celestial spirit, knuts for brains.”

Mira drags Laxus to a back room before a fight can truly break out. She explains that yes, he is a valued member of the guild and no, it’s not because he turned them into stone. He’s not in the wedding because they had to choose between him and Gajeel and they want to avoid another situation like with the Exceeds.

She says he can plan the stag party, as a compromise.

Lisanna organises her hen do with Lu-chan. It’s not that she doesn’t trust Erza but, she doesn’t trust Erza. She wants something small and intimate, she knows, in some small corner of her mind, that that will never happen, but she holds out hope. The girls all get together at Lucy’s ( Natsu – the bastard – called dibs on the guild) to bake cupcakes and play with puppies.

Natsu is emotionally scarred by his stag party. Who thought it was a good idea to let a dragonslayer with a grudge plan the damned thing? Natsu had wanted to go out and kill some things but apparently that’s not allowed because he does it every day, so they’re getting drunk in the guild.

It starts as well as Lisanna could have hoped for. Bisca tells them all about her own wedding and then shows off the impressive range of guns she’s going to threaten Natsu with, should he ever hurt her. She doesn’t even manage to get through them all before she sees the time and has to run home to put Asuka to bed, but Lisanna gets the picture. If Natsu puts one toe out of line he will be a dead man indeed.

It doesn’t even start well for Natsu. Everyone’s grumpy because Erza said no strippers (while wearing her Seduction armour, go figure.) and that didn’t mean he could uninvite Grey. 

Every time Natsu walks past the ice queen, or Gajeel, oddly enough, he gets blasted full force with an electric shock. At this rate it’s unlikely he’ll have eyebrows for his own wedding. Laxus grins: Steel and ice make the best conductors.

Cana busts out the drinks, but, for one reason or another, everyone (apart from, worryingly, Mira, who is supposed to be driving Lisanna home) comes up with an excuse to avoid the booze. Now, that just won’t do, Cana thinks to herself, slipping a little something into Levy’s glass. Surely a couple of shots won’t hurt her.

“THAT’S NOT WHAT MEN LOOK LIKE. A REALY MAN LOOKS LIKE THIS!” Elfman shouts, bursting out of his shirt. It seems Grey and Lyon’s synchronised stripping wasn’t impressive enough for him. Natsu sighs, now he gets why Erza had banned strippers at these parties.

Levy is lying on the floor. The carpet feels nice against her face, apparently, and she can see words in it. There also appears to be something soft and cuddly in her arms.

“Is that a teddy-Gajeel?” Lucy asks, in the tone of someone who doesn’t much want to know.

“GIHIHIHIHIHIHI. Love you shrimp.”

“She must have solid-scripted it.” Mira muses, between peals of laughter.

“Wouldn’t that make a full-sized Gajeel? I thought she was a better mage than that.”

“This is why you should never perform magic under the influence!” Cana pronounces grandly, before grabbing her cards and doing just that,

“I’M THE FASTEST MAN ALIVE.” Jet announces to the nearest girl (Loke dragged some in). She flees at a speed that is somewhat impressive, even by his standards. He still can’t work out why that line doesn’t work for him.

At least he’s doing better than Droy. He was so drunk that he came on to Freed, who proceeded to trap him with runes until he wrote 'not every mage with long hair is a woman'. 100 times. So far he’s on thirty-two, you really don’t get a lot of writing practice when you’re on a team with Levy goddamnit.

Lucy’s apartment is full of books. That’s not so very unusual, except hers normally contain more than the words MRS LEVY McREDFOX. They figure it’s probably time for her to go home now, so they dispatch Cana to get Gajeel to come and pick her up. She would complain, but Levy drank all her beer. Gajeel is on her barstool. That is not okay. She had spent over a decade staking her claim on it, her magic had been mostly learned for that very aim. She sends him on his way, and settles down to a new cask.

Mira and Erza are having a fight, but not the usual kind. Whoever suggested an epic dance battle should be evicted from the guild immediately. Their antics keep Lisanna too distracted to notice Gajeel sling Levy over his shoulder and storm out the door, or the fact that Juvia’s been gone for nearly an hour.

If Natsu had ever bothered to think about it, he would have said his stag-do would be broken up by the magic council because it was too awesome, not because they’re suspected of harbouring a fugitive. They are, but that’s not the point, you’d think the most powerful magic guild in Fiore would be afforded more respect. Jellal disappears out the back window with a silent – but entirely unnecessary – barrel roll, and the council members sit down for a drink.

A figure clad entirely in black bursts through Lucy’s window, grabs Erza, and disappears into the bedroom with her. Lisanna doesn’t ask, if it’s a stripper she doesn’t want to know.

They’re not seen again for several hours. Definitely a stripper then.

Natsu is escorted home, not for the first time, by the police. They give him a stiff lecture on the evils of property damage. He bets Lisanna is having more fun than this.

Lisanna realises that Mira had left without her, and all her other friends are gone. Lu-chan starts making pointed comments about going to bed, so she starts her journey home, in the rain. She silently curses Grey Fullbuster for rejecting Juvia’s advances. She bets Natsu is having more fun than this.

 

The day of the wedding draws bright and clear, not that either of the betrothed know it. Their self-appointed wedding planners drag them off at stupid o’clock in the morning (okay, it’s nine, but one of the best things about being a mage is not having to get up with the rest of the world.) and lock them in their childhood bedrooms, right on the very top floor of the guild, now reserved especially for SS-Class wizards and flying cats. Or, Lisanna goes to hers. Natsu has to stay in Grey’s room on account of his still not having a door.

Lucy summons Cancer to help get Lisanna ready, and banishes the other bridesmaids, because it really is too early in the day for a brawl. They get her hair done, then promptly disappear as the hallway fills with the sound of cascading elephants.

“Lisanna.” Elfman’s eyes are red, and if snot was oil then his nose would be worth millions. “You look so beautiful.”

He throws his arms around her, and starts to sob in earnest.

“IT’S NOT MANLY TO CRY!”

“But, big brother Elf, what’s more manly than walking your sister down the aisle?” It’s a nice thought, but it does nothing to help the snot situation. Instead of trying to reason with him further, Lisanna pulls out the veil – that Cancer had just pronounced perfect- and hands it to him to blow his nose on. Seconds later, it’s covered in bright green goo and he’s trying to give it back to her.

She waves him off and sends him on his way. She barely has a second to herself before the groom comes tumbling into the room.

“Natsu? What are you doing here?” She asks, without the slightest hint of surprise. “It’s bad luck to see the bride on the wedding day you know.”

“Please. I’ve seen you in a wedding dress before. You looked beautiful then too. Hey, aren’t you supposed to have a veil?” Clearly, Natsu learned more from Levy’s books than she realised.

“I gave it to-” She waves her hands vaguely in the direction of the sound of Elfman’s tears, still audible after he’d left the building.

“Then take this. It’s even better.” Natsu pulls his scarf off and begins to wrap it around her neck. They stand like that, with their toes and noses nearly touching, for barely a second before they move in to kiss each other.

Of course that’s when Lucy reappears.

“NATSU. GET OUT. IT’S REALLY UNLUCKY.” God, from all the screaming you’d think he got stuck in her chimney again or something.

“I can’t believe I finally get to walk my little girl down the aisle today. You’re the most beautiful girl in the room honey.”

“Awww dad,” Cana blushes, “I’m only a bridesmaid.”

“Yes. She is.” Mira suddenly announces, looking more menacing than either of them would have thought possible. “Which means you can’t say things like that to her. The only woman you’re allowed to call beautiful today is Lisanna.”

Gildarts keeps on walking, and before anyone can stop him, he’s gone through the altar and pieces of it are scattered everywhere. Mira should have known better than to distract him like that. 

She calls Grey over, Natsu might not like it very much but he’s good at what he does. If someone can make them a last minute altar it’ll be him. She explains the situation to him.

“So? Can you ice-make a new one?”

“No.”

“NO?” She says, in the surprised tone of someone who expects absolute obedience.

“I can’t. Erza had Levy draw runes to stop me taking my hands out of my pockets so I can’t strip during the ceremony.”

“I guess I could ask Lyon…”

“You could, but it would be pointless. Levy got to him too.”

“LEEVVVVYYYYYYY.” The girl comes scurrying across and Mira sighs in happiness, at least someone knows what order means. She’s so distracted by this thought that she doesn’t notice Gajeel silently follow a few paces behind her.

Mira explains the situation again, and Levy and Grey both make quick work of their respective jobs – Fairy Tail does attract the best, after all.

“Hey Levy, why don’t you draw the runes straight onto my clothes this time? Then I won’t have to slouch and I can be on hand in case Gildarts smashes up anything else.”

“That’s a good idea Grey. Take off your shirt.” 

“Watcha’ doin’ Shrimp?” And now everyone notices Gajeel. Levy explains since Mira is getting thoroughly sick of hearing this story, but he doesn’t look happy about it, “I’m watching you Snowflake.” Levy leans up and kisses him softly on the lips.

“Honey, he saw you nail me to a tree, and I’m your girlfriend. I’m sure he can imagine the sorts of things you’d do if he tried anything.”

“Are we ever going to have an argument where you don’t bring that up?” Levy slides her glasses up her nose and mutters a few complex-sounding formulae under her breath. She mimics the shape of scales with her hands and tilts her head from side to side. She seems to be very deeply considering this thought.

“No.” Or not. “The only solution is to accept that I’m always right.” She scribbles a few runes onto Grey’s chest and the pair walk off holding hands. They don’t have a chance to wonder how that fight turned into flirting for long before a much bigger one starts.

Cana’s date arrives. He takes two, precise yet uneven, steps into the guild before a giant fist reaches from the sky and punches him out again.

“How’s life in Quattro Puppy?” Elfman bellows. He doesn’t really hate Bacchus for what happened at the Grand Magic Games, but he’d already tried yelling at Jet and Droy and it hadn’t made him feel any manlier.

His display is promptly eclipsed (ditto his show of masculinity) by Gildarts when he – Bacchus – sidles up to Cana and makes no effort to hide the fact that he’s touching her ass. Gildarts acts swiftly and ruthlessly, before anyone else can react a thousand little Bacchuses – Bacchi? –are spread around the guild. Instead of fighting back, the tiny men split up to more effectively down everyone’s drinks. In seconds, the glasses are dry, and Cana is very impressed.

It helps that the whole guild is distracted by the sight of Wendy and Chelia cooking up a small hurricane in an attempt to clear away some of Gildarts’ rubble. Wendy barely has a chance to examine her handiwork – probably a good thing – before she’s called away with the rest of the bridesmaids.

Rogue winks. Everything goes black.

The first thing the guests see again is Lisanna. Lacrima light up in time with her as she walks down the aisle. Cana flashes her dad an extra-wide grin and the sky begins to sparkle with glitter.

At the other end, by their makeshift altar, Gajeel nudges Natsu’s jaw shut. Moments later Natsu returns the favour. The girls really do look phenomenally beautiful.

Not that the men are doing too badly either. As Lisanna reaches them they’re lit up too. They’re dressed mostly in black and white, with accents of hot pink and Erza must have dug out some special magic that no-one knew about because her hair is the same colour as ever but it doesn’t seem to clash.

Gramps clears his throat, and the world falls silent.

“I’ve always believed that the bonds found in our guild are something special, but these two have gone above and beyond that. Every day of our lives we feel the bonds between friends, if we’re lucky. In Fairy Tail, you can rely on feeling the bonds between Nakima too, but nothing quite compares to the bond that falls between these two. Love. Enduringly pure and everlastingly special.

“I have to say, I’m proud of you brats.”

He runs through the rest of the ceremony quickly, stopping only for them to speak their vows.

“Lisanna, I love you. I’ve had no moment happier than the one where you said you love me back. Because of that, I’ll keep this short, because I’m coming off the script Erza made me learn and I’m pretty sure she’ll hit me in a minute.

“You’re special and wonderful and unique. Fairy Tail doesn’t feel like home when you’re not there. I’m sorry I didn’t realise that sooner, I’m sorry I had to learn it the hard way, but I’ll never let you go. I didn’t then and I won’t now. There’s only one question I have to ask you, before I give you my life.

“Lisanna, my love, do you promise to help me fake my own death, should I ever need to?”

“I do.” She snorts, and no, those are not tears in her eyes as she says it. Looking at him now, every fond thought she’s ever had about him come flooding back to her.

“I love you. I do. I love you for the fireballs and the temper tantrums just as much as for your sweet side and your endless loyalty. I wish, more than anything, that I could promise that you’d never have to bury me again. But I can’t. All I can offer is this, I love you, I will never choose another world over this one again, not as long as you’re here.”

Thunderous applause fills the garden. Holy crap, had she been speaking? Those weren’t her vows. She had much better vows that Levy had written for her, those vows wouldn’t be making her cry.

Elfman passes the veil across to her, as silently as he can muster. When that doesn’t work he pats her on the back – she coughs up a fur ball. Well, there has to be some downside to animal soul transformations.

“Since you had one question for me, I’ll send one right back at you. Natsu, flame of my heart, do you know that I didn’t actually fake my own death?”

The laughter overtakes the applause and Lisanna doesn’t even care. He’s grinning wolfishly at her and, right now, that’s all that matters.

“I do.”

They kiss, though Gramps hasn’t announced that it’s time yet. Nobody notices. They’re so caught up in the moment that they completely miss him shouting that they are now husband and wife. They don’t stop until a bolt of lightning splits them apart.

Mira pulls out a guild stamp – it’s been mutually agreed that Natsu will repeatedly melt any rings they could find – and gives them matching guild marks, for the second time in their lives. These ones are dark red and they lie over their hearts.

Sting winks, and the garden lights up again.

Only one thought hits Lisanna as she surveys her wedding properly for the first time. Holy cow, that is a lot of rubble. It wouldn’t be Fairy Tail without it, she supposes.

“I thought we were having a small wedding?” She asks her new husband. 

“No. We said we were just having family, is there anyone you’d want to uninvite?” Some of the convicted felons maybe, but she has to stop that thought in its tracks as she remembers that that group technically includes Natsu.

They move to walk back down the aisle, side by side this time. Levy does a spectacular four foot standing leap to stop Gajeel from using iron filings as confetti.

Screw the vows, it’s time for the most important part of the wedding: Lisanna’s about to throw the bouquet. All the girls, and Gajeel, are gathered in an orderly group to one side of the garden. This lasts until about three seconds before she throws it.

It ends up in Levy’s hand first, briefly. Before the shock can leave her face and be replaced by happiness, she’s knocked down by a swirling hurricane of red and white. If you look at it really closely you can just about make out Erza and Mira in there.

The bouquet, along with the fight, is lifted into the air, soaring higher than the tallest tower in Magnolia, before a tidal wave knocks it down again. Only one person is left standing.

“Grey-sama, did you see-?” Juvia asks. He didn’t. He had somehow managed to pull off his clothes around the runes Levy drew on, leaving only a small, sad, torn patch of cloth stuck over his bellybutton. Natsu, without a second’s thought, punches him in the face.

Someone starts the music and Cana gets the drinks pumping. Before long all is forgotten in preparation for another important moment: The first dance.

Natsu dances a lot like he fights. You can’t tell if he uses official moves or if it’s all improvisation, but there’s a lot of shouting and fire involved. And that’s practically considered classical by Fairy Tail standards.

“Natsu,” Lisanna begins, handing him a candle. “Eat this, you’ll need all your strength. I think there’s an intruder.” She points out a mysterious figure cloaked in black. Natsu laughs.

“Don’t worry, that’s Erza’s date. Can’t you tell from how they’re dancing?” Lisanna would hate to see how Erza dances with someone she doesn’t love, given that she had thought Erza was torturing the poor man.

Before she can speculate further, Erza spins her date into a table. Seeing that the dance floor is safe, for the time being, couples flood in to show off their moves. Elfman taps her on her shoulder and leads Lisanna to the very centre of the dance floor. Mira sends Grey to pick up Juvia, who’s looking all too much like the rain woman for her liking.

As he drags her from that table, Juvia sends the bouquet a fond glance. It’s a good thing too, the flowers definitely need the love if they’re going to survive the burning glares that Levy’s sending their way – she’s using the best ones she’s learned from Gajeel. A twisted lump of metal slams down in front of her.

“There Shrimp. Why look sad about some stupid flowers when you can have a ring?”

“That’s a ring? It’s bigger than my hand.”

“It’s not my fault you have shrimpy hands. I made it for you, used all the spoons in the kitchen to do it.” It’s a sweet thought, but no-one else in Fairy Tail appreciates it when they have to attempt soup with forks. Gajeel glances around, almost appraisingly. “Our wedding’ll be loads better than this. All the girls will wear bunny costumes.”

“No they won’t.”

“But-”

“You nailed me to a tree.” Gajeel slumps, knowing that there’s no acceptable way he can respond to that. “Isn’t it time we set up for the surprise anyway?”

Gajeel lifts her bodily onto the roof of the guild, taking care to look up her skirt on the way up (and her top, on the way down). She takes out her pen, and starts writing in the stars.

Lisanna hadn’t thought she could get any happier, but then she looks up at the sky.

“Natsu! Did you-?” He shakes his head, as astonished as she is.

There’s magic everywhere. Trails of ice and lightning chase shadows and steel as far as the eye can see. Levy had etched out CONGRATULATIONS in gold and silver, and in champagne bubbles that look just a little bit like iron filings.

You’d think someone capable of writing runes so powerful as that would be able to make Grey keep his clothes on.

As soon as it starts, it’s over, and the party sinks back into full swing. Wendy and Romeo race Chelia around the edge of the guild, Cana throws up cards for Al and Bisca to use as target practice, and Grey really does create an ice skating rink for Juvia.

Natsu and Lisanna are still side by side. He wraps his arms around the back of her and slowly breathes in her scent, determined never to forget it again.

“Did you like it?” He asks, hesitantly. She doesn’t know it yet, but she’s the only one who’s ever been allowed to hear that quiver in his voice.

“Honey, it was perfect. Rubble and all.”

Without warning he lifts her up and spins her around. In his vows he had promised he’d never let her go. He was wrong. She crashes straight into Gajeel.


End file.
